Lawyers' Full Employment Act

Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot makes it clear the Bush-Cheney campaign is anticipating a close election and possible election problems like those in Florida in 2000. The Bush team has teams of lawyers getting ready to swoop into any precinct with ballot-counting problems, particularly in the 17 states that the Republicans consider close-calls. Racicot’s legal SWAT team sounds a whole lot like comments by Kerry at a meeting with Hearst executives and editors in Boston in early July. Kerry said his campaign was recruiting and training election lawyers to intervene in any ballot related issue anywhere in the country. The hard lessons of the 2000 election have obviously made indelible impressions on both parties.